Half a gross on...

Yesterday was an enjoyable 72nd birthday.  Hardly an entertaining start to the day: a couple of (very hot) days earlier, the car had put up a 'loss of tyre pressure' warning.  I verified at the time that there was nothing the matter, but of course had to go round re-setting all the tyre pressures before I could reset the electronics.  That's the third or fourth time we've had false alarms on this and the previous car, but we've also had two real and timely ones, so they're not to be ignored.

The warning showed up on a very hot day when I was on the way home from Benenden Hospital, where I'd finally managed to get a consultation with an orthopaedic surgeon.  Meanwhile, of course, the knee has started behaving rather better - a bit like the toothache that goes away when you've finally steeled yourself for a visit to the dentist.  Anyway, I'm to have an MRI, and the very thorough and pleasant Mr Sawbones will telephone me when he's seen the pictures.  Benenden Hospital is very flash these days, which doubtless accounts for the rise in fees and the drastic reduction in services.  

The high temperatures have eased a little, thank goodness, but it's still warm and humid.  Yesterday evening was cooler and quite still, so I had a delightful birthday supper - Martyn's treat - in the back garden at the Hôtel du Vin in town.  Taxis there and back: we are trying to convince ourselves that we don't need to scrimp and save.  Or he is trying to convince me, but old habits die hard!  Nice meal, and we were on the way home before the town centre started to get rowdy.  Martyn coped very well with wearing a shirt for the first time in about six weeks.  He's starting to feel a little better, but shingles takes ages.  I managed the walk down to the taxi rank slowly but almost painlessly.

The tiler was here yesterday, and seems to have done a better job of cleaning off the grout residue (which, of course, he ought to have done before it dried).  I've washed off the residue of his residue remedy today, which also ought not to have been necessary, but as we end week 9 of the project, pragmatism starts to prevail.  But I shall be looking carefully at the bill.  

Back to the usual cooking, laundry and housework today. We had our favourite home-made salmon and prawn pizza for lunch, but the spinach crop was pretty small today, and the usual underlay was consequently a bit short of greenery.  We shall refer to the freezer for a low-effort supper, and will cook properly tomorrow.  Or so it says here, most days.